Monday, 9 May 2011

So, thankfully, the season is finally over. For those who wish to offer opinion on 'last season', at least the immense disappointment we all feel can now be lamented in the past-tense. Forgive me if I don't waste too much time looking back. I've experienced the worse Addicks campaign for a generation, so I've no desires to re-live it in any great detail.

What we all would like to see now is some immediate, decisive and positive action regarding the re-building of the playing squad for the forthcoming season (immediate in the sense of who's going, rather than who's coming in.

I thought the Chairman made some encouraging quotes in the programme notes on Saturday. After a quiet start to his tenure, he appears to be upping his profile. Some may question whether this is a good thing, I guess, but it's encouraging to me that he clearly recognises the huge problems that need to be overcome (on the playing side, notably) and is committed to promotion next season. It is very nice to read that the club will start next season 'financially stable'. Only time will tell if the regime he has put in place will be good enough. Naturally, I'm hoping the darkest days are over and the future will look a little brighter over time.

Talking of the matchday programme, I thought the Semedo interview post his Player Of The Year award was touching and his obvious passion for this club is believable. I hope he will be around next season.

So I wish you all a pleasant summer break. Enjoy it. I've already started to think about what I can do on a Saturday - shopping is not an option - but I know that within a few weeks I'll miss the football.

Last words to my Mum, who has, once again, shared the experience of another dire season with me. Not once has she even looked like giving up on Charlton despite being drawn to the Addicks purely by virtue of the team her son supports (I feel guilty, Mum, I promise you). Although an infrequent visitor to the Valley, my Mum will follow games religiously home and away from her computer or radio, sending me texts as the game unfolds. Her genuine passion for Charlton and those words of encouragement through the darker moments mean the world to me. You know what they say...a problem shared and all that!!!

Thursday, 5 May 2011

NOT CHARLTON RELATED. If you're a Charlton fan, you can certainly do with a laugh every now and again, so the other day I thumbed through a hefty volume of my favourite cartoonist's work. Gary Larson, a man known for his surreal and often twisted sense of humour, created a unique view on the world that was either loved or totally hated. Where the latter was concerned, his work often provoked strong outrage, particularly from animal lovers fed up of the bizarre situations he would depict animals in.

Larson never created side-splitting humour or even pictures that would make you laugh out loud (at least to me he didn't). His was a subtle, clever art form that more often than not made you actually question what you should be laughing at. Take the image above, which is my all-time favourite Larson cartoon. Is the punch line alone enough of a 'gag' or the very fact that two cows are sitting quite happily on a sofa in their own front room (I assume it's their front room)? Or perhaps it's the fact that they appear unable to work the phone but seem to be enjoying the luxury of watching a T.V. I love it, but then it suits my habit of thinking far to deeply about things!

But that's the point to Larson's work...it made you think on so many levels.

Larson retired some years back and I often think of how any artist (of such talent) has the discipline to put down his pencil and say he's not going to draw again. In Larson's case, his art was still in big demand from his loyal followers (of which I was one). I consider myself to be fortunate in having a talent to draw cartoons. Unfortunately, the ability to draw is one thing but I'd give anything to have as little as 10% of the imagination of an artist like Larson. Sadly, my pencil has long since been retired as I can't think of what to draw!